I was up at 3:30 am to make coffee and pack up. Met Don at Windsor High School at 4:50 am to drop off my truck. Hopped in with Don and headed over to pick up KC at 5:00 am. We got to the race venue about 5:30 am. I dropped my stuff in T1 and ate a banana and a Zone Bar. We watched the pro's leave on the swim in wave 1 and then saw Don and Jason off on their swim in wave 2. I got to see the pro's finish their swim and transitions to the bike...how cool! Then up to the blue rooms for a quick stop, then to transition to put on my swim gear.

Event warmup:

I jogged to and from the car to drop my gear bag, approx .5 mile. We couldn't get into the water until 6 minutes prior to our wave start. I was in wave 15 that started at 7:54 am. As soon as wave 14 left, I went through the starting chute and into the water for some warm-up.

Swim

37m 40s

2112 yards

01m 47s / 100 yards

Comments:

I thought the swim would take me about 40 minutes. We swam up stream first so I thought that would take a little longer than swimming back to T1. There was definitely a current and the water was rough heading back to T1. It's so shallow that a bunch of people were walking and kicking up all the nastiness at the bottom of the river. Yucky! I was taking it easy because I still had the bike and run. I was pretty happy coming out of the water and seeing just over 37 minutes on my Garmin

What would you do differently?:

Nothing. I felt like I picked a good starting position, middle front. There was plenty of room for swimmers so I didn't get beat up and I didn't have to swim over and around people...that is until we caught the wave swimmers ahead of us.

I had a good pace, not too fast, not too slow. Breathing was good. No complaints other than getting stuff in the river in my mouth. EW!

Transition 1

05m 50s

Comments:

T1 was a muddy/sandy mess! I had two towels and a gallon of water which only slightly helped the sand issue. Got out of the wetsuit ok but trying to get into my socks and cycling shoes without sand proved difficult.

We had about a 300m run total, from the water to get out of T1. Once out of T1, there was a hill to get up to the roadway. I had planned for this and put my bike in the correct gear so hopping on the bike and climbing the hill was a piece of cake.

What would you do differently?:

Lay out my big towel flat so I had more dry, not dirty, towel to work with.

Bike

2h 58m 19s

56 miles

18.77 mile/hr

Comments:

Being my strongest sport of the three, the bike was amazing and I had so much fun out there, probably a little TOO much fun. I dropped my chapstick at mile 7!! Panic?? Nah...I managed to hang on to the lid. First aid station at mile 18 had no vasoline but the aid station at mile 28 did! I filled the lid of my chapstick with it, worked like a dream for the rest of the bike and the run. :-)

I had zero appetite. I didn't feel like I needed to eat but I knew I needed to eat. So, I scheduled everything out. Half of a Tim cookie (Thanks Tim!), 2 Gu Chomps, a banana and hydration (Nuun and water).

Stayed in aero for the majority of the ride. I was very comfortable. The two hills that were on the course were not bad, especially after some of the hill training we have been doing. The first was a very gradual climb of about 300 ft at mile 27, which I didn't even realize I was on until it was over. The next was the dreaded Chaulk Hill. A quick climb of 385 ft. Similiar to the Buttes but a little steeper and a little longer. There were lots of spectators cheering us on heading up the hill. Only a couple of people walking their bikes. By the time I hit Chaulk Hill, I was riding with a group of girls that were pretty competitive and we were having fun with it. We all climbed Chaulk Hill, got out of our saddles for the last 100 ft, crested the top and got back in aero for the speedy ride down the hill. Almost hit 40 mph on the descent. :-)

What a great ride...I had a BLAST!

What would you do differently?:

I wouldn't have changed a thing! Yesterday, I said I should have taken the bike a bit more conservatively. But today, I say I need to work harder on my run. So, that's the plan leading up to Big Kahuna. More long runs, faster long runs and longer bricks. I got this! :-)

Transition 2

04m 23s

Comments:

We had about a 400m run total, from the bike dismount to get out of T2. That took a little time. The person next to me didn't give me enough room to rack my bike so I pushed their bike over then racked mine. I know I get berated for this all the time, but I had to spray on my sunblock...which didn't take very long at all. It would suck to be sunburnt today.

What would you do differently?:

Nothing other than move a little faster. I was ok with this transition.

Run

2h 22m 29s

13.1 miles

10m 52s min/mile

Comments:

I got out on the run and wanted to take the first half at a conservative pace to be able to finish strong. All the hills were in the first half of the run. Once we got to La Crema (the half way point run through the vineyard) I started to have some discomfort. Cramps in the lower abdomen and tight hamstrings. It was really hot out on the dirt trail. I walked the aid stations and just tried to keep jogging between the aid stations. I learned that is where the mental game comes into play. The last mile, I really got onto myself and said let's do this! And that last mile was one of my faster miles, even with all of the discomfort. It was a GREAT learning experience. It was a great experience in general! My motto now? "Respect. The. Run." hehe...I know I got the bike...Always have. I need to put some serious work into the run!

What would you do differently?:

Focus my training on the run! Which is what I will do now, leading up to the Big Kahuna Half Ironman distance in September.

Post race

Warm down:

Walked, stretched, ate, drank, showered, drove 3 hours home.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

My brain...LOL! I have learned from this experience and now I will go to work to put those lessons into practice in my workouts.

Event comments:

What a great experience!! But this all wasn't done by myself alone. Thanks to all who helped me prepare for this race, supported me through the process, got me into this race, cheered me on through the race and have given me kudos for my race performance. I am a lucky girl to have all of you...

Profile Album

Last updated: 2013-07-15 12:00 AM

Swimming

00:37:40
|
2112 yards |
01m 47s / 100yards

Age Group:

26/120

Overall:

886/2300

Performance:

Good

Suit:

Full Blue Seventy Wetsuit

Course:

We started at the Johnson's Beach Dam on the Russian River and headed up stream, then turned around and headed back down stream to T1. The depth of the water was 4-8 feet deep.

Start type:

Deep Water

Plus:

Water temp:

71F / 22C

Current:

Low

200M Perf.

Good

Remainder:

Breathing:

Drafting:

Waves:

Navigation:

Rounding:

T1

Time:

05:50

Performance:

Below average

Cap removal:

Helmet on/
Suit off:

Wetsuit stuck?

Run with bike:

Jump on bike:

Getting up to speed:

Biking

02:58:19
|
56 miles |
18.77 mile/hr

Age Group:

16/120

Overall:

939/2300

Performance:

Good

Average heart rate 153

Wind:

Little

Course:

Beautiful course! The first half of the course was overcast and cool through lovely vineyards. Most of the roads were relatively smooth. Once we crossed under Hwy 101 to the east side, the sun came out and the roads got worse.

Road:

Rough Dry

Cadence:

Turns:

Cornering:

Gear changes:

Hills:

Race pace:

Drinks:

T2

Time:

04:23

Overall:

Average

Riding w/ feet on shoes

Jumping off bike

Running with bike

Racking bike

Shoe and helmet removal

Running

02:22:29
|
13.1 miles |
10m 52s min/mile

Age Group:

72/120

Overall:

1508/2300

Performance:

Below average

Average Heart Rate 150

Course:

We ran south from the high school, out to La Crema. Runners did a loop around the vineyard on dirt trails. Then we ran out a bit farther before turning around and heading back to the high school.